Throwing out physical media

[oddman]

I'm a slow learner.

I had a bit of an epiphany listening to Led Zep II for the first time in a while from Tidal through my Naim Uniti Star and Epos ES7N Speakers. It's the oldest record in my collection having been bought age 11 in 1977 so if anything is a proof of concept this is 'the one'.

Firstly it sounds better than my pride and joy analogue setup of Linn Axis, Naim Nait and Rega ELA speakers. I nicked the speaker cables from this to set up the new system so haven't since used it December.

Secondly I it dawned on me that whilst as a teenager there was definitely a triangular relationship between me, the artist/music and the artwork/format (remember the posters and stickers you used to get?), whilst having a strong sentimental connection to the music of my youth I no longer have any attachment to the physical object/format.

We're planning a significant down size and it seems to me the music duties will be more than adequately handled by the streamer (which has all my CDs backed up on an SD card). So I'm concluding that it's time to get rid of the old set up and of all my CDs and vinyl.

I know this makes me a decade or so behind both those who've chose to move entirely into the digital domain and also those (including my kids) who are rediscovering vinyl.

I'm just asking for a sense check before I take irreversible action.

[Jamescrs]

I think you will see people coming back the other way before long, it’s already happening.

Vinyl is becoming a big business especially, if you do decide to clear whatever you have be sure to check values because you may find you have some very valuable bits there.

I used to have a decent DVD collection and got rid of it all probably 15 years ago and I’m now buying loads of DVD’s again because I’m sick of finding films I want to watch aren’t available on streaming platforms or I’m asked to pay 9.99 for them to stream on Amazon.

[LuS1fer]

I have drawers full of CDs which I rip to my computer.

What I have noticed is that where CDs couldn't be given away, at one time, they are now being sold by companies on ebay for higher prices.

They say you can't give DVDs away still, though, as people want Blu-Ray or Directors Cuts these days.

That said, we got rid of a load of kids VIDEOS on ebay, free to anyone who wanted to collect and they were almost fighting over them

[BritishBlitz87]

Jamescrs said:

I think you will see people coming back the other way before long, it s already happening.

Vinyl is becoming a big business especially, if you do decide to clear whatever you have be sure to check values because you may find you have some very valuable bits there.

I used to have a decent DVD collection and got rid of it all probably 15 years ago and I m now buying loads of DVD s again because I m sick of finding films I want to watch aren t available on streaming platforms or I m asked to pay 9.99 for them to stream on Amazon.

Indeed, the "11 when I bought Led Zeppelin II" points towards a potentially very desirable record collection. Plenty of that sort of 70s and 80s rock classics fly off the shelves at £20-£30 each in good nick.

A good record shop would happily take it off your hands if you don't want the hassle of selling individually

[oddman]

BritishBlitz87 said:

Jamescrs said:

I think you will see people coming back the other way before long, it s already happening.

Vinyl is becoming a big business especially, if you do decide to clear whatever you have be sure to check values because you may find you have some very valuable bits there.

I used to have a decent DVD collection and got rid of it all probably 15 years ago and I m now buying loads of DVD s again because I m sick of finding films I want to watch aren t available on streaming platforms or I m asked to pay 9.99 for them to stream on Amazon.

Indeed, the "11 when I bought Led Zeppelin II" points towards a potentially very desirable record collection. Plenty of that sort of 70s and 80s rock classics fly off the shelves at £20-£30 each in good nick.

A good record shop would happily take it off your hands if you don't want the hassle of selling individually

Thanks for that. It's not an amazing collection. The quality/weight of the vinyl is way below the vinyl my kids buy (well except what's encoded in the groove) I've never chased rare cuts or anything. Condition is good as first play was always to a TDK AF 90 and would use cassette for subsequent playing except for sitting down 'listening'.

I'll do a bit of research. From a listening perspective I pretty sold on my streaming set up.

[BritishBlitz87]

oddman said:

Thanks for that. It's not an amazing collection. The quality/weight of the vinyl is way below the vinyl my kids buy (well except what's encoded in the groove) I've never chased rare cuts or anything. Condition is good as first play was always to a TDK AF 90 and would use cassette for subsequent playing except for sitting down 'listening'.

I'll do a bit of research. From a listening perspective I pretty sold on my streaming set up.

Don't be deceived by the weight of the vinyl, the quality of the vintage stuff was always better. A lot of the "premium 180g" modern presses have appalling quality control.

It's what's in the grooves that counts. and to a lesser extent, vinyl formulation. Both of which were generally excellent in that era.

And what do you mean you prefer your streaming setup. Where's the inconvenience? The expense? The analogue warmth you can only get from wondering whether your £100 needle is broken or the £50 record you bought just sounds like that?

Edited by BritishBlitz87 on Saturday 22 August 16:49

Edited by BritishBlitz87 on Saturday 22 August 16:49

[bigpriest]

It's a bit of a pain but many original CDs have been re-issued several times (Deluxe Edition, Special Edition, 20th Anniversary etc.). These later releases may have different mastering to the originals and the older version isn't always available to stream. Obviously depends how much this matters.

[oddman]

BritishBlitz87 said:

oddman said:

Thanks for that. It's not an amazing collection. The quality/weight of the vinyl is way below the vinyl my kids buy (well except what's encoded in the groove) I've never chased rare cuts or anything. Condition is good as first play was always to a TDK AF 90 and would use cassette for subsequent playing except for sitting down 'listening'.

I'll do a bit of research. From a listening perspective I pretty sold on my streaming set up.

Don't be deceived by the weight of the vinyl, the quality of the vintage stuff was always better. A lot of the "premium 180g" modern presses have appalling quality control.

It's what's in the grooves that counts. and to a lesser extent, vinyl formulation. Both of which were generally excellent in that era.

No wonder the kids are so keen to have their pick before I sell them

[Lucid_AV]

New vinyl is not great. In so many cases, the transfer is done from a digital master. If there's a bit of 'loudness wars' compression added then the analogue transfer suffers. Older recordings have better dynamics and just sound more musical.

Someone else in the thread said vinyl is becoming big business. I think we're past that point. It has become big business again. There are more new Hi-Fi turntables available now than in the '80s portion of the golden age of vinyl. Pro-Ject alone has 39 unique models plus a further 21 special editions with customised paint and whacky plinth designs. Loads of artists are releasing vinyl (and cassette). Whether that's just cashing in or a backlash against the miserly royalty fees from streaming is anyone's guess.

Your Axis could be someone's forever turntable. In the late 2000s I considered selling mine. It's near mint and has all the original packaging. I'd have been lucky to get £150. Today it's closer to £400, and if the deck has the Akito arm then £500+ is not uncommon.

[NDA]

I've had my large CD collection in storage crates for around 8 years - I'll have a wild guess and say it's over 2,000 of them. I haven't needed to access them in any way.

Same with my vinyl collection too.

I listen to music via Qobuz with Spotify in the car. It's very rare I listen to my own ripped library - pretty much everything is available to stream and much of it in high res.

But... I wouldn't want to chuck my collection out. It's all a bit illogical really, but there we are.

[cliffords]

I have been clearing the loft and put a couple of batches of vinyl records on eBay.
I have not ever sold stuff so easily, they were both sold at asking price in a day each.

[snuffy]

Over recent years I've been buying the odd newly released album (often on both CD and record) directly from the artist's website, because that way, they nearly always come signed.

I just like having the physical thing, being able to look at it, and having a signed copy makes it even better. Its not just about the music itself.

I imagine that most people will think that's weird.

[oddman]

Lucid_AV said:

New vinyl is not great. In so many cases, the transfer is done from a digital master. If there's a bit of 'loudness wars' compression added then the analogue transfer suffers. Older recordings have better dynamics and just sound more musical.

Someone else in the thread said vinyl is becoming big business. I think we're past that point. It has become big business again. There are more new Hi-Fi turntables available now than in the '80s portion of the golden age of vinyl. Pro-Ject alone has 39 unique models plus a further 21 special editions with customised paint and whacky plinth designs. Loads of artists are releasing vinyl (and cassette). Whether that's just cashing in or a backlash against the miserly royalty fees from streaming is anyone's guess.

Your Axis could be someone's forever turntable. In the late 2000s I considered selling mine. It's near mint and has all the original packaging. I'd have been lucky to get £150. Today it's closer to £400, and if the deck has the Akito arm then £500+ is not uncommon.

I was always puzzled by the hype around vinyl when most things are now recorded digitally. I think part of the quality of original analogue recordings is the 'natural' compression characteristic of studio magnetic tape which seems really ear friendly.

I think if I could characterise my feelings about my mid market analogue and digital systems it would be. Analogue is warm musical and flawed. High quality streaming has astonishing clarity, detail and imaging but can be very warts and revealing of substandard recording/production. I can hear how dreadful and intrusive vocal effects are on modern recordings. OTOH I've been very struck by it's ability to pull me into the music even when I've just put something on in the background.

My Axis is the one with the Akito arm. At the time it seemed to be 90% of an LP12 at less than a third of the price and a considerable step up from a Rega 3. I don't think they made them for very long (in Linn turntable longevity terms) suspect becuase it was a sort of Cayman 911 scenario. To make me feel really old they have re released the Naim Nait at around £1800. I thought that might push up the price of my original but sadly not. We bought my daughter a Pro-Ject turntable and very nice it is too. Suspect my son will be after the Axis.

I think the answers here confirm my suspicions that letting my physical media go seems to be more of a philosophical/emotional question than a technical one.

[Nico Adie]

snuffy said:

Over recent years I've been buying the odd newly released album (often on both CD and record) directly from the artist's website, because that way, they nearly always come signed.

I just like having the physical thing, being able to look at it, and having a signed copy makes it even better. Its not just about the music itself.

I imagine that most people will think that's weird.

I don't find that weird at all - I like to be able to read the liner notes, see where an album was recorded etc, streaming doesn't offer that. Plus the musicians get peanuts. If I do buy an album digitally it'll be on Bandcamp.

[NDA]

Nico Adie said:

I don't find that weird at all - I like to be able to read the liner notes, see where an album was recorded etc, streaming doesn't offer that.

Quite a few services do have that information. Roon for example has far more information than any liner notes. Qobuz and Tidal have quite a bit too.

[greygoose]

oddman said:

I think the answers here confirm my suspicions that letting my physical media go seems to be more of a philosophical/emotional question than a technical one.

Nothing wrong with having an emotional attachment to vinyl, as long as your collection isn’t too large and inconveniencing your life. As a reference point we recently boxed up the fathers in law’s collection as he was moving house, he buys vinyl (and more recently CDs) regularly for the last 60 years, the collection weighed eight tonnes when it went in the removal lorry!

[SweptVolume]

I'm probably at risk of going a bit tin-foil hat mode here, but my principle worry is that Tidal or whichever service you choose will go may go pop one day, or the record label for your favourite band may pull their catalogue from your chosen service and the next thing you know, you can no longer access the music you love.

A somewhat related example is with television streamers. Not so long ago, Netflix had so much content, many will have thrown away DVD's and Blu-Rays and said the monthly is worth it. But slowly Netflix have lost content, and other steaming services have launched, and now those same people need multiple streaming subs in order to watch - say - Star Trek.

I realise that optical media can go bad over time as well, so nothing is perfect.

[InductionRoar]

Led Zeppelin's entire catalogue has been mastered three times in the digital format and, unusually so, I find the most recent version of LZ II to be the best. There are countless examples where this is not the case (even within the LZ catalogue) and you are stuck with whichever mastering the streaming service provide.

Enjoy the fact that Tidal has the preferred version for LZ but don't assume that to be the case for everything.

[P700DEE]

If you have the space to store i'd not be ditching the CDs. Currently they don't sell for much but like vinyl they may become more valuable assuming they become "collectable" again. I have a big collection and it is more for the collection than managing to play them all. My vinyl system is expensive, sounds better than CD and/or streamed in my system and you get the pleasure of the ritual of playing a record. That said most of my listening is via an Alexa or in the car. As a member of a Hi-Fi club I know most people are streaming, most have backed up their CDs to a streamer, downsizers have ditched the turntable and Lps. Modern streamed music and even bluetooth speakers give a much better sound than the Dansette of old. If selling then get a good price, don't give stuff away you might one day regret. I know too many people who ditched their turntables and albums only to start again at huge cost.

[Church of Noise]

Doing the opposite here, just installed cd racks in my home office and brought them down. Not because of quality, but because I like to browse them, find one I haven't heard in a while (doesn't work for me I Spotify or tidal, iykwim) and then listen to an entire album.
also, nostalgia...